Corvette Racing by Pratt Miller Motorsports, AWA to debut Corvette Z06 GT3.R (Fixes driver quotes) DETROIT (Jan. 16, 2024) – A new season of racing marks a new start to the Corvette Racing program. The three-day Roar Before the 24 at Daytona International Speedway is the annual preview ahead of the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, which will look very different for familiar with the Corvette brand. Instead of one or two Corvette GT cars running around the 3.56-mile infield road course as has been tradition for the 25 years, a quartet of the new Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.R racecars are set for the Roar – one week before the season-opening Rolex 24 At Daytona. The quartet of Corvettes will be spread out in two classes of the WeatherTech Championship: Corvette Racing by Pratt Miller Motorsports in GTD (GT Daytona) PRO and AWA in GTD. Nine GM factory drivers dot the roster of four cars. · Corvette Racing by Pratt Miller Motorsports: Antonio Garcia, Alexander Sims, Daniel Juncadella (No. 3 Oshkosh / Mobil 1 Corvette); Tommy Milner, Nicky Catsburg, Earl Bamber (No. 4 Oshkosh / Mobil 1 Corvette) · AWA: Orey Fidani, Matthew Bell, Lars Kern, Alex Lynn (No. 13 Corvette); Anthony Mantella, Nico Varrone, Thomas Merrill, Charlie Eastwood |
CORVETTE RACING MEDIA INFORMATION Corvette Racing media information is updated and available ahead of the Roar Before the 24 as well as next week’s Rolex 24 At Daytona for the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship. Materials include Corvette Racing event advance and quotes, Corvette Racing stats and figures, Corvette Z06 GT3.R racecar comparisons, Corvette Racing Fast Facts, driver biographies and Corvette Racing photography, among other items. |
The official competition debut of the Corvette Z06 GT3.R comes almost 15 months from the first time the initial test car turned its wheels for the first time on a track. Since that time, continued testing and development has come at circuits around the United States and at Chevrolet’s Driver in the Loop (DIL) simulator. The Corvette Z06 GT3.R is Chevrolet’s first car built to global GT3 regulations. It’s based on the production Corvette Z06 supercar with the two sharing a significant amount of DNA. The racecar is built on the same production aluminum chassis frame – from Chevrolet’s Bowling Green (Ky.) Assembly plant – as the road-going Z06. Similar carbon-fiber splitters for front downforce, and the surface area from the top of the windshield to the rear of the Z06 remained intact on the Z06 GT3.R. That includes side air ducts behind the doors — directly inspired by Z06 production road car — that help to cool the engine, transaxle and rear brakes. The similarities carry over to the hand-built 5.5L, flat-plane crankshaft V8 engine in the Z06 GT3.R. Both original from the Bowling Green factory with the racing version sharing 80 percent of the production content from the Z06, including the crankshaft, connecting rods, cylinder heads, fuel injectors, coils, gaskets and a variety of other sensors. Corvette’s latest racing challenger benefits from a legacy of previous race- and championship-winning racecars. Three previous generations of Corvette – C5-R, C7.R and C8.R – have visited Victory Lane at Daytona with the program claiming four previous class victories. The goal for this year’s Rolex is to claim Victory No. 5… and No. 6. The Roar Before the 24 is set for Friday-Sunday with GTD PRO and GTD qualifying for the Rolex 24 scheduled for 1:55 ET p.m. on Sunday. The session will stream live around the world on IMSA.com. |
CORVETTE RACING BY PRATT MILLER MOTORSPORTS PRE-EVENT DRIVER QUOTES |
AWA PRE-EVENT DRIVER QUOTES |
CORVETTE RACING BY THE NUMBERS AT DAYTONA• 0.034: As in seconds – the winning margin of victory in Corvette Racing’s 1-2 finish at the 2016 Rolex 24. Up until last year’s LMP2 finish, it was the closest finish in race history• 1: Rolex 24 class win for AWA; the team won in LMP3 in 2023. Current team drivers Nico Varrone, Anthony Mantella and Thomas Merrill were part of that lineup• 2: Number of the overall winning Corvette C5-R in the 2001 Rolex 24. Ron Fellows, Johnny O’Connell, Chris Kneifel and Franck Freon completed 656 laps for 2335.36 miles in the winning effort• 4: Number of Corvette Z06 GT3.R entries for the 2024 Rolex 24 – two from Corvette Racing by Pratt Miller Motorsports (GTD PRO) and two from AWA (GTD)• 4: Rolex 24 wins for Corvette Racing as an entrant: 2001 overall, 2015 GTLM (Antonio Garcia/Jan Magnussen/Ryan Briscoe), 2016 GTLM (Oliver Gavin/Tommy Milner/Marcel Fässler) and 2021 GTLM (Garcia/Jordan Taylor/Nicky Catsburg)• 9: Corvette/General Motors factory drivers piloting the Corvette Z06 GT3.R in this year’s race: Antonio Garcia, Alexander Sims, Dani Juncadella, Tommy Milner, Nicky Catsburg, Earl Bamber (Corvette Racing by Pratt Miller) plus Charlie Eastwood, Nico Varrone and Alex Lynn (AWA). Bamber and Lynn also are Cadillac Racing factory drivers in FIA WEC• 14: IMSA Manufacturer Championships for Chevrolet and Corvette Racing since 2001• 24: Drivers who have driven for Corvette Racing at Daytona – Justin Bell, Ryan Briscoe, Nicky Catsburg, Kelly Collins, Dale Earnhardt, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Marcel Fässler, Ron Fellows, Franck Freon, Antonio Garcia, Oliver Gavin, John Heinricy, Chris Kneifel, Robin Liddell, Jan Magnussen, Tommy Milner, Simon Pagenaud, John Paul Jr., Andy Pilgrim, Mike Rockenfeller, Scott Sharp, Alexander Sims, Marco Sorensen, Nick Tandy and Jordan Taylor• 27: Tracks at which Corvette Racing has won races – Baltimore, Charlotte Motor Speedway, COTA, Canadian Tire Motorsport Park/Mosport, Daytona, Detroit, Fuji Speedway, Houston, Laguna Seca, Le Mans, Lime Rock, Long Beach, Miami, Mid-Ohio, Monza, Portland, Road America, Road Atlanta, Sebring, Sonoma, St. Petersburg, Texas, Trois Rivieres, Utah, VIR, Washington DC and Watkins Glen• 32: Number of drivers for Corvette Racing since 1999• 71: Years since Corvette was introduced to the world on Jan. 17, 1953 in New York City. A total of 300 cars were produced that year• 127: Victories worldwide for Corvette Racing – 115 in North America, nine at Le Mans and three in the FIA WEC• 284: Event starts by Corvette Racing since 1999• 99,600: Total number of racing laps completed by Corvette Racing entries since 1999. Barring any issues, the program will go over the 100,00-lap mark at the Rolex 24 of Daytona• 361,990.52: Total number of racing miles completed by Corvette Racing entries since 1999. To put that in perspective, Corvette Racing is more than halfway to the distance traveled by Apollo 13 – the longest manned spaceflight in history: 622,268 miles Corvette Racing at Daytona (wins in bold)1999No. 2 Corvette C5-R: Ron Fellows/Chris Kneifel/John Paul Jr. – 3rd in GTSNo. 4 Corvette C5-R: Andy Pilgrim/Scott Sharp/John Heinricy – 12th in GTS 2000No. 3 Corvette C5-R: Ron Fellows/Chris Kneifel/Justin Bell – 2nd in GTSNo. 4 Corvette C5-R: Andy Pilgrim/Kelly Collins/Franck Freon – 10th in GTS 2001No. 2 Corvette C5-R: Ron Fellows/Johnny O’Connell/Chris Kneifel/Franck Freon – 1st in GTS (overall win)No. 3 Corvette C5-R: Andy Pilgrim/Kelly Collins/Dale Earnhardt/Dale Earnhardt Jr. – 2nd in GTS 2014No. 3 Corvette C7.R: Jan Magnussen/Antonio Garcia/Ryan Briscoe – 10th in GTLMNo. 4 Corvette C7.R: Oliver Gavin/Tommy Milner/Robin Liddell – 5th in GTLM 2015No. 3 Corvette C7.R: Jan Magnussen/Antonio Garcia/Ryan Briscoe – 1st in GTLM (Magnussen fastest race lap)No. 4 Corvette C7.R: Oliver Gavin/Tommy Milner/Simon Pagenaud – 3rd in GTLM (Gavin pole) 2016No. 3 Corvette C7.R: Jan Magnussen/Antonio Garcia/Mike Rockenfeller – 2nd in GTLM (Garcia fastest race lap)No. 4 Corvette C7.R: Oliver Gavin/Tommy Milner/Marcel Fässler – 1st in GTLM (Winner by 0.034 second) 2017No. 3 Corvette C7.R: Jan Magnussen/Antonio Garcia/Mike Rockenfeller – 4th in GTLMNo. 4 Corvette C7.R: Oliver Gavin/Tommy Milner/Marcel Fässler – 9th in GTLM 2018No. 3 Corvette C7.R: Jan Magnussen/Antonio Garcia/Mike Rockenfeller – 3rd in GTLM (Magnussen pole)No. 4 Corvette C7.R: Oliver Gavin/Tommy Milner/Marcel Fässler – 4th in GTLM 2019No. 3 Corvette C7.R: Jan Magnussen/Antonio Garcia/Mike Rockenfeller – 6th in GTLMNo. 4 Corvette C7.R: Oliver Gavin/Tommy Milner/Marcel Fässler – 8th in GTLM 2020 (Rolex 24 – January)No. 3 Corvette C8.R: Antonio Garcia/Jordan Taylor/Nicky Catsburg – 4th in GTLMNo. 4 Corvette C8.R: Oliver Gavin/Tommy Milner/Marcel Fässler – 7th in GTLM 2020 (WeatherTech 240 – July)No. 3 Corvette C8.R: Antonio Garcia/Jordan Taylor – 1st in GTLMNo. 4 Corvette C8.R: Oliver Gavin/Tommy Milner – 5th in GTLM 2021No. 3 Corvette C8.R: Antonio Garcia/Jordan Taylor/Nicky Catsburg – 1st in GTLMNo. 4 Corvette C8.R: Tommy Milner/Nick Tandy/Alexander Sims – 2nd in GTLM 2022No. 3 Corvette C8.R: Antonio Garcia/Jordan Taylor/Nicky Catsburg – 6th in GTD PRONo. 4 Corvette C8.R: Tommy Milner/Nick Tandy/Marco Sorensen – 10th in GTD PRO 2023No. 3 Corvette C8.R: Antonio Garcia/Jordan Taylor/Tommy Milner – 2nd in GTD PRO |